as in defunct
no longer existing
a few overgrown ruins are all that remain of that once mighty but now extinct civilization
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Recent Examples of extinct
According to this theory, those now-extinct megafauna—the giant ground sloths and the giant beavers, the mastodons and mammoths, and even the lions and dire wolves—were relatively quickly hunted to extinction.
—
Literary Hub, 10 June 2026
Like Temminck’s pangolin or coequal branches of government, retirement is in danger of going extinct.
—Joshua Rivera, Vanity Fair, 8 June 2026
Sea stars almost went extinct along the West Coast a decade ago.
—Casey Parks, Washington Post, 6 June 2026
Tasmanian devils — agile, mostly nocturnal animals that can roam for 10 miles in a single night — have been extinct on the Australian mainland for more than 3,000 years.
—CBS News, 4 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for extinct
Literary Hub, 10 June 2026
Like Temminck’s pangolin or coequal branches of government, retirement is in danger of going extinct.
—Joshua Rivera, Vanity Fair, 8 June 2026
Sea stars almost went extinct along the West Coast a decade ago.
—Casey Parks, Washington Post, 6 June 2026
Tasmanian devils — agile, mostly nocturnal animals that can roam for 10 miles in a single night — have been extinct on the Australian mainland for more than 3,000 years.
—CBS News, 4 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for extinct
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extinct
Adjective
-
Travis Reed, who was a fire captain with the now-defunct Briar Volunteer Fire Department, admitted to coercing a minor into producing child pornography in September, according to a summary of facts in the case.—
Lillie Davidson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
18 June 2026
-
Van Halen were the first major band to openly praise us, and that led the way for most metal bands to cite us as influences, much to the annoyance of the now-defunct critics.—
Steve Appleford,
SPIN,
17 June 2026
Adjective
-
Suddenly, photos, videos, or important documents are just… gone.—
StackCommerce Team,
PC Magazine,
15 May 2026
-
Room by room, the author takes us through the house, now long gone.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
8 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
While the elevator was running during the inspection, the county issued a violation for an expired inspection certificate.—
Bri Buckley,
CBS News,
18 June 2026
-
Toss expired toiletries, old school papers, worn clothes, and unused winter gear to simplify your space.—
Sarah Lyon,
The Spruce,
1 June 2026
Adjective
-
If unethical actors can deploy custom frontier AI models to aggressively interrogate smart contracts and find hidden protocol flaws, human-only defensive audits will be rendered obsolete.—
Sean Stein Smith,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026
-
Now, new clean technology, known as direct reduction, is fast replacing the old, obsolete blast furnaces that have been polluting our community for more than 100 years.—
Lori Latham,
Chicago Tribune,
16 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Extinct.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extinct. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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